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The kickoff to the NFL season may be months away, but that doesn't stop illustrator, Matt Stevens, from whipping up an amazing series for his beloved Carolina Panthers. Follow along on his instragram as he rolls out more.

The other day, the Portland Trail Blazers released their new team logo which can be read more about here.

Although, the reactions from fans and designers were mixed. I think we can all agree that the update to the Portland "pinwheel" is an upgrade. However, the 1970 version is still my favorite so I don't think they ever needed to change it in the first place.

What the team didn't reveal, we're some of the rejected logos. Designer, Robb Harskamp, had some fun by laying out some alternatives.

I'm a little late posting this project but the work is too good not to share.

Over NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, Swift agency and Adidas teamed up to give fans an inclusive All-Star experience with a creative twist. Over the break, they turned an empty warehouse in downtown New Orleans into a living, breathing art gallery: The Adidas Hoops Collective. Comprised of the country’s most influential street artists, the Collective documented All-Star Weekend 2017 in real-time via murals, comic strips, illustrations and customized kicks.

This past NBA season, Utah Jazz Data Visualization posted a (you guessed it) data visualization of each Utah Jazz game. The final score and other exciting stats are shown through a combination of data visualization, illustration, and typography. Below are a few of my favorites:

Mooke Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and a mix of other Boston Red Sox players brought postgame celebrations to a new level last season. In a recent article by ESPN, the players broke down their favorite dances, accompanied by some fun animated illustrations by Andrew Colin Beck.

I'm loving this retro basketball series of illustrations by Arturo Torres. The combination of patterns and shapes on these posters take me back to the 80's. Does anyone else feel like they should be hanging up at The Max?

On October 15, 1986, the New York Mets came back from a three-run deficit in the ninth and beat the Houston Astros in 16 innings to win the pennant. What followed, was one of the most infamous postgame celebrations in all of sports. Here is an animated version of the story that was directed, illustrated and animated by James Blagden for Victory Journal.

In honor of the U.S. Open, The New Yorker celebrated the local sporting event with a cover design by the talented Christoph Niemann.

In addition to the cover, Niemann brought the tennis match to life with a 360° animation video. The virtual-reality experience (which can be best viewed with Google Cardboard) places viewers on the court of a tennis ball match.

Niemann is the artist behind one of The New Yorker's first cover gifs and in May, he illustrated the magazine’s first augmented-reality cover, which featured an interactive New York cityscape.

You can also check out some work that Niemann did for the 2014 World Cup.

The incredible thing about Nike is it's ability to leverage great design to transcend all sports. Which is why they're one of the few brands that can combine two sports like basketball and soccer. As part of a unique Nike/Jordan collaboration, Neymar Jr. will become the first soccer athlete to wear the Jumpman logo on his cleats. Additionally, the Jordan Brand will release a Neymar edition of the Jordan V Low with “Neymar” stitched inside the tongue.

The NJR x JORDAN Hypervenom football boot design comes from Nathan VanHook, Nike Football Sr. Design Director. He also happens to be an old friend from college so I couldn't be happier for him on this collaboration. Nate is one of the most creative I know. He is obsessive about the small details and makes sure that every element has a reason or tells a story. This design really reflects him as a designer.

I also rally enjoy the logo they created for this collaboration. It's a nice, clean lockup but still allows the Jordan brand to be prominent. I've seen some shots of the shoebox that use the logo and paint splatter but wasn't able to find a good enough image to post.